Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1887-02-11
LINCOLN As 4 Ia WIER.

]
| His weak as well as his strong qualities
have been Indicated He never learned the
technicalities-wha some would call the
| tricks-of the profession The sleght Of
/ plea aud demurrer, the legerdemain by
I which justice is baked and weak case is
made to gain All unfair advantage was too
subtle and shifty for his strong and straight
| forward intelligence, He met these manuu-
vres sufficiently well when practiced by 9th
ers, hut he never could get in the way of
handling them for himself On the wrong
side he was always weak He knew this
himself and avoided such eases when he
could consistently with the rules n his pro
fesson. He would often persuade fair
minded litigHnt of the injustice Of his case,
and induce him to give it up. His partner.
Mr.. Herndon. relates IA speech in point
which Lincoln once made to- "a man who of
fercd him an objectionable ease: yes.
there is no reasonable doubt hut that | can
gain your case for YOU can set a whole
neighborhood at loggerheads | can distress
u widowed mother and her six fatherless
children, and thereby get for you six hun
dred dollars, which rightfully belongs, it
appears Ia me- as much 10 them as it does
10 you. shall not take your case, but
will give little advice for nothing You
seem a sprightly, energetic man. would
advise YOU to try your hand making six
hundred dollars in some other way" Some
times, after he had entered upon criminal
cast, the conviction that his client was
| guilty would affect him with a sort Of panic
On one occasion he turned suddenly Ia his
associate and said SWEET. the man is
| guilty: you defend him. | can't and 50
gave up his share Of a large fee The same
thing happened at another time when he
was engaged, with Judge 5. C. Parks, in
/ defending a man accused Of larceny He
said, "lf You can say anything for the man,
| do 1t, can't If attempt it, the jury will
see think he is guilty. and convict him
| Once he was prosecuting civil suit, in the
course Of which evidence was introduced
| showing that his client was attempting a
| fraud Lincoln rose aud went to hi, hotel
/ in deep disgust The Judge sent for him
he refused to come Tell the Judge" he
said, my hands are dirty; came over to
wash them We are aware that these sto-
ries detract something from the character
'i 'l'e 'a"Eer' ou' TINS 'hieNihie' neon
NeIiieh' ana Iustiulous Hnoraity was I" he
VI vast SERVICE hereafter I" MS country ana
the world.
me -Ne"iess "hich waits upon men "i
extraordinary VIII or huinor mas not neg
| lected Mr.. Lincoln. and the Young LAWYERS
Vi l'iih"is' VINO never hhe" HiIil' nave an
eH''eSs store Oh Jokes ana plt"Sahtrles III
ms name some Oh theiii a. "Id as ho"le-
glasN OF hApelalS. hnt the TACT Is that with
an MS Stories anu JeSts' MS trunk ooiupah-
l"hapIe huilor' ms glit "l easy a'ceSslplhty
ana welcome ne was even while ne travel
en the elghth circuit a man "i grave ana
serious temper ana al an unusual innate
| dignity ana reserve. lie had few or no
| sPe'laiIhunlateS' anu there was lne he
Eohu "hlch no one ever thoug9t oil passing.
DeSr'eS' lie was voo strong man III the
court r""ll 10 DE Regarded WIN anything
put respect III community III when legal
a"'I'ty was tlle ohly especial marx oil dlS-
I'h't'"h' re" III MS forensic speeches
nave nee" preserved pu' MS c"htelhPora
r'es All heIee ~ I" 'helr singular aullltN ana
| power lie seemed anN"iutely al nome III
court room ms great stature dd not en-
GUNNER MN there' II seemed IKE natural
| Sy"''"' ol superiority. ms bearing ana
geSu'ula'i"n hhH no n"k"ardheSS about
uheih they were SIMPLY StrlKrng ana "rigl-
MAJ lie assumed at the start frank ana
irlehdly relation win the jury winch was
| extremely eHectlNe' lie usually began, as
Ihe phrase ran ny giving away ms case
| ny Allowing the opposite slde every possible
advantage that they '"uld honestly ana
justly claih' linen ne would present ms
| own sac "l the case win clearhess' "a can
dor' an adr"ithess oi statement which at
once haVVereu ana convinced the jury ana
iliaue even the pNStallHers MS partls'ihs.
sometimes ne disturbed the court with
'hugh'er ny MS humorous or apt llIustla-
IONS sometimes ne excited the audience by
that horid ana exuoeraht rhetoric which he
Ane" wen enough now ana "ieh 10 indulge
III put MS more uSual an" more successful
manner was 10 rely upon clear strong
l"rlh statement Keeping details IN proper
Suo"rdlhatloh ana bringing forward IN
way "h'ch fastened the ATTENTION OF court
ana jury allKe' the essential point ON winch
he CANNED decision Indeed says one
ot ms colleagues, his statement often rem
dered argument unnecessary ana OFTEN the
court would stop nm ana say II mat Is
'he case we WIN near the other Sine'
" ha'e'er "'uotS lnlsn' oe entertainer as
10 whether he was the ableSt lawyer on the
circuit there was never any dissent from
the OPINION that he was the one most cor
dmlly ana universally hked' II he did not
hlmseH ENJOY ms iull share OF the happl-
ness OF me- he certainly dltuSed more OF 1t
among MS fellows thah Is IN the power ~
most men, Ills arrival was httie festival
Ill the county seats where ms profession led
nm TO pass SO much OF ms time Sey&al
eyewitness have described these scenes
III terms "hlch would seem exaggerated Il
they We're not SO inily confirmed. The
bench ana bar would gather at the tavern
where ne was expected 10 give nm cor
dial welcome: saws one writer, He brought
light with him. This is not hard to under
stand. Whatever his cares, he never in
Aict4d then, unon otbars He tolkad sipgu.
l,,l,. ,,,an l,,,, ,,,,,,. - l,;,,,,aIs N.
'''i Ao
was tuii OF VIII "hich never wounded oil
humor which mellOwed the harshness of